US drugs giant attacks European price checks

HANK McKINNELL, the head of US drug giant Pfizer, has accused European healthcare regulators of killing the pharmaceuticals industry in Europe.

"Germany used to be called the medicine chest of Europe," he said last night. "Now it is New York, New Jersey and Connecticut." He said that Europe's share of the world pharmaceuticals market has fallen from 32pc to 22pc in the past decade, owing to the price controls and other restrictions placed on producers.

"Unfortunately there are many people and governments who want to change our high-risk, high-reward business into a high-risk, low-reward business. Our largest challenge comes from nations such as Japan, France and Germany," he said. Mr McKinnell said that these nations once had vibrant pharmaceuticals industries of their own.

He added: "A disturbing number of developed nations engage in price controls and other restrictions. Is it any surprise that, through cost controls of this type, countries like Germany and France have greatly weakened their own research-based pharmaceuticals business?

"My message to governments in Europe is that cost controlled markets are just not sustainable. Ultimately they are going to backfire. Europe needs to pay its fair share for research costs." In the US, drug pricing is set by market forces. In many European countries, the price of generic drugs is kept artificially high.

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"Because of their pricing and reimbursement policies, European governments are in essence shifting the costs of research from their patients to Americans," he said. "That is neither fair nor responsible."

Mr McKinnell, whose company spends $14m a week on research and development in the UK alone, was in Britain to meet the Government for talks on pharmaceutical regulation. He said he had discussed the threat of animal rights activism to overseas pharmaceutical investment.

"They haven't discouraged us yet, but they could be a major disincentive," he said. "The UK Government's policies are appropriate, but they have to continue to protect people's property and lives."